Dire Wolf - Breakfast Barrel
Wolf's Ridge Brewing

Thanks again to my good friend fiver29 for my first taste of this brewery I have seen people enjoying on social media. 22 oz. bottle w/great label art split with my wife.

The pour is dark black – what I imagine a dire wolf’s coat to resemble – with a nose to match. Dark malts, dark syrup, just a touch of dark coffee.

Dire Wolf Breakfast Barrel is a sweet tooth’s dream. Luckily I have several. Syrup fairly oozes out of the taste & I had some damn good syrup about 11AM. Backing is all the sweets: strong vanilla, deep malts, drying oak & a touch of anise & light caramel on the finish. Coffee is MIA unfortunately, as it would have been a good balancing agent. Sticky. Not sure I could wade through 22 ounces of sugary heaven but it would have been fun to try.

Impressive beer. Thanks again buddy & feel free to send more from these guys if you stumble across it!

22 ounce bottle, packaged 06/24/21. Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch tan head that stayed around a while. Good amount of lacing. I like the aroma, the brew smells like espresso, maple, roasted malt, vanilla, oak and a hint of bourbon. Taste is similar to the aroma but with more kick, and also with the addition of some burnt/charred malt, dark bread, molasses, anise and chocolate flavors. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's a bit creamy and coating with a moderate amount of carbonation. I thought this was a pretty good imperial stout, and it might be my favorite of the Dire Wolf variants that I've tried so far. Definitely worth trying! $19.99 a bottle.

On draught at Wolf's Ridge Taproom, served in a snifter. Was allowed to warm for as long as it took me to drink a maibock ordered at the same time.

L: Arrived an inky black capped with a thin dark tan head. Fair retention, meh lacing.

S: The nose wafts out of the snifter as a lovely and balanced blend of maple syrup and medium roast coffee, wreathed through with stone fruit and dark bread notes.

T: This drinks spectacularly. The forefront of the flavor palate strikes a perfect balance between maple sweetness shot through with mild smoky and woody notes, and a smooth medium roast coffee. Beneath those swirls a mix of fig, plum, and prune notes, with the oaky vanilla caramel from the barreling acting as subtle support. The ABV is dangerously nowhere to be tasted.

F: Full bodied, bordering on creamy, and silky smooth.

O: This is definitely one of the best stouts I've personally sampled to date.

Bottle #1 - drank 1/29/21
22 oz bottle, born on 1/22/21, poured into a snifter at 52 degrees F:
L - dark like molasses, with a hazelnut head that slowly dissipated
S - bourbon, coffee, vanilla
T - lots of bourbon, almost drowns out the coffee and vanilla
F - medium mouthfeel with minimal carbonation
O - good, but too much bourbon on the nose

Bottle #2 - drank 7/2/21
the beer has become much better. First of all this one has warmed to 55-60 degrees F, but the oak/bourbon flavor has faded and now blends fabulously with the espresso and maple syrup flavors